No. 8 Baylor breezes past Idaho 82-37

Nov 28, 2009 - 4:17 AM
WACO, Texas(AP) -- Melissa Jones scored a career-high 23 points
and had 11 rebounds and No. 8 Baylor held Idaho to six field
goals and 15 points in the second half in an 82-37 victory
Friday night.

Morghan Medlock scored 12 and Shanay Washington scored 10 for
Baylor (4-1), which opened the second half with a 16-4 run.

After scoring in double figures in her first four college games,
Baylor freshman Brittney Griner finished with six points, five
rebounds and three blocked shots. She didn't attempt a dunk and
left the game with 9:40 left.

Bianca Cheever scored 11 points for Idaho (0-4), which was 14 of
52 from the field and missed 23 of 31 attempts from 3-point
range.

Baylor opened the game on a 23-3 run and led 47-22 at halftime.
Griner didn't score in the first half, but did have three
blocks, three rebounds and a steal.

Idaho felt the presence of Griner before the game officially
started. Four Idaho players positioned themselves away from the
center circle, where their teammate, 5-foot-8 freshman Natasha
Helsham, faced Griner for the opening tip. Helsham never jumped
when referee Scott Yarbrough tossed the ball.

"Let's be real," Idaho coach Jon Newlee said. "We wanted to get
back in our defense in case they were going to run a play off
the tip. We would be back in our defense, ready to go."

From there, Idaho's strategy revolved around stopping Griner.

"It was part of the plan," Newlee said. "The part that wasn't
part of the plan was letting Jones sit out there by herself. Our
kid got so wrapped up in doubling Griner ... she was supposed to
get out on the shooter and she just got caught up in the whole
deal and let Jones loose.

"You pick your poison. We weren't going to let them throw it
into Griner because we certainly can't stop her. We took our
chances with the 3 and they knocked them down. That's the way it
goes."

Baylor made 7 of its 10 3-point attempts, with Jones going 5 of
7.

"Brittney Griner quietly might have been the most valuable
player tonight," Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said. Brittney just
draws that much attention. There's more to this team than just
Brittney Griner. And people forget. Look at her. She is a
freshman with three people (on her) every time she turns around.
What great respect that is."